2014 40th Annual Boston World of Wheels

A garage door creaks open to find the first rays of sun after being closed up for what seems like an eternity. The anxious car owner rolls his ride outside and fires it up for the first time after being worked on during the snow-filled winter months, sparking a new driving year to life. If it's the end of March you can be sure that the best way to kick off the show season is to head to the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, Massachusetts, to check out the World of Wheels. Celebrating its 40th year, the show was the perfect way to shake off the cobwebs and take in an adrenalin-fueled weekend filled with big horsepower, vibrant colors, and an abundance of chrome. This year the show was packed to capacity with well over 200 of the area's most scorching hot rods, customs, muscle cars, restos, and motorcycles. While walking through the event your senses were consumed by plenty of dramatic rides laid out in numerous large displays, as many of them competed for the Pilgrim Award for the first time being shown in Boston. This year there were plenty of fresh builds from well-noted builders as well as individual owners, including Competition Specialties, Wilson & Steely Kustom Coachworks, Xtreme Restorations, Bruce Comboni, and Fred Morrison, to name but a few. While cruising through the show it was easy to check out many of the latest offerings from Chevrolet Performance, as well as those from Summit Racing, Meguiar's, Town Fair Tire, TREMEC, and others.

Once again custom legend Gene Winfield returned with his Chop Shop, this time lowering the lid on Chris Darque's 1959 Cadillac with the help of his fellow members of the Kingpin's Car Club. See, when Winfield rolls into town he really sets up shop, complete with a recreation of his famous building's exterior to make the experience complete. By the end of the weekend the Caddy rolled out into the night with a whole new attitude. If that wasn't enough you could have also checked out a reet spread of hop-ups in the Motorama area spotlighting traditional hot rods and customs, spun by the vintage pin-up contest, and stopped to view the Wild, Wild Horses exhibit celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Ford Mustang. Another returning noteworthy focal point of the event was the excitement generated by the numerous celebrity appearances throughout the weekend. This year lucky visitors had a chance to meet WWE superstars Sheamus and Shawn Michaels, as well as Rick and Kelly Dale from the History channel's American Restoration. It was a perfect weekend to welcome the rodding season, get together with old friends, and even meet some new ones. Special thanks to the Lug Nuts Car Club who were the hosts for the show. You can check it all out at www.autorama.com.

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3/23Steve Wilson of Wilson & Steely Kustom Coachworks 1956 F-100 was a knockout with its slammed stance, thanks to a custom chassis with RideTech 'bags. The truck features a perfect chop, canted-quad headlights, custom rolled rear pan, and rolls on Radir wheels with wide whites.

7/23Some Mercs like Keith Allard's '50 simply have the look thanks to a perfect level of custom touches, including a flowing chop, shaved body, updated grille, louvered hood, and coating of midnight black.

11/23Craig Dolan's 1954 Chevy hauler was a real crowd-pleaser with its ground-scraping stance, body accented in leather and copper, vintage bike in the bed, and Chevy small-block power.

15/23For a hot rod that handles like it’s on rails, Matthew Robichaud chose a full-fendered Factory Five 1933. He completed it in vibrant red with chrome five spokes capped with Nitto performance tires with a business office featuring black pleated bucket seats.

19/23Sometimes all you need to do is set the stance and add just the right amount of detail to your ride to make the scene. This ’40 Merc coupe looked right with its deep blue body accented by red pinstriping, perfect plating, and rear skirts.

23/23Sparks flew as the team worked to prepare the body for the lowered lid. Here you can see Winfield behind the scene monitoring the progress.